Digital Despair EX
by DigiConjurer
Summary: The slate has been wiped clean. The dead, alive once more. Their memories, resealed away. All that remains is to begin this game one final time. After all, despair never ends.
1. 0: Prologue - Returning back to Hell

Digital Despair EX

Chapter 1

0: Prologue - Returning back to Hell

Junko Enoshima opened her eyes.

Currently, the fashionista found herself stuck in a classroom.

"Ugh…" she thought, placing a hand against her forehead. She felt hung-over, yet couldn't remember ever taking a sip of anything to give such. Scratch that. Junko couldn't even remember how she had even gotten to this classroom. What she could remember, was standing at the gates of Hope's Peaks, having just been accepted as the SHSL…

Junko pulled her electro-id out and launched her profile up. While everything looked in order, the title listed 'Fashionista', didn't make sense to her. But, she couldn't remember what it was supposed to be.

"Hey!"

She looked down, finding a small blue wyvern thing standing before her.

"Yeah?" Junko greeted, still having no clue what the fuck was even going on. "Um… Who are you?"

"I'm Veemon!" the creature announced, giving Junko a tight hug. "And we're partners!"

 _Scanning…_

 **Veemon**

 **Rookie, Vaccine**

 **Special Moves: Vee Headbutt, Vee Punch**

 **.**

 **Veemon: Haven't we done this before?**

 **Junko: Possibly, but my memories are kind of a confusing fragmented mess.**

 _Scan Complete._

Junko froze and fell to her knees. Images flashed through her mind at a rapid pace. While most of them weren't nearly impossible to decipher, one photo she was able to decipher. It was a picture of her and some sort of black cat.

Before she could make out what was in the photo, it too faded away.

"Any more clues?" Veemon inquired, only for her master to sigh. Junko's gaze then focused back on the desk, finding a pair of combat knives lying there. While she wasn't entirely sure how they got there, they could have some possible use After attaching the weapons to her skirt, her vision focused on a third object on the table. It was a purple and grey oval with a single black screen attach to a long yellow. Strangely, someone had faintly carved something into the device.

Remember, and you'll be led back onto the path

A strange sensation came over, as if her body was attempting to remember.

"Not really, Veemon." Junko answered and made her way towards the door. Veemon followed right behind and the two exited the room.

Outside, the duo were welcomed by walls of rotting flesh and some sort of pink squishy floor. While neither remembered where they originally came from, both of them were quite certain their homes were like this at all.

"Upupupupu!"

A large cloud of black mist then formed, only to reshape itself into an exact copy of Junko.

"Who… are you?" Junko whispered, only for more laughter to pierce the area.

"I'm you!" the clone answered. "Well not really, of course. You can call me Despair."

Both the human and her digimon rolled their eyes.

"I don't think this is persona, though." Veemon added, only to be ignored by both Junkos. "Never mind."

"As I was saying." Despair continued, 'her gaze' completely focused on Junko. "You know the rules already, I believe. Now go off and kill some people!"  
"Wait, what?" Junko and Veemon just stood there, confused by what their captor had just said.

"Don't you want to remember?"

The fashionista took a deep breath and pulled her combat knives out.

"Yes…" Junko answered and approached the doppelganger. "But you're the only one who's going to die."

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

The 'fashionista' ignored the remark, proceeding to slam both knives into the opponent. Veemon then ran up to her master and jumped into the air.

 **Vee Headbutt!**

Junko sidestepped out of the way, watching as her wingless wyvern thing slammed its head into Despair.

"I'm guessing you don't know the rules. After all, you wouldn't have attac-"

Before she could finish, Junko's right foot connected with her face and knocked the copy to the ground.

"As you were saying?" Junko answered, only to fall to the ground. More images began rapidly flood her vision, each one lasting mere milliseconds. And yet, a pattern seemed to emerge within this madness. Occasionally, she would see a younger version of herself with a large black cat. Even then, it seemed a good chunk of the images were that sort. Slowly but surely the images slowed down, now being that of dead bodies of people she couldn't remember. The final photo was the worst. Just a still shot of a large weight, just about to crush her. Yet, it was not allowed to fully come in. A bright flash of light then flooded her vision, shattering the picture into a million pieces.

When it disappeared, she found herself within a white void. A teenage girl dressed in a violet Lolita outfit, only to suddenly turn into the black cat from the photos. The creature then walked over to her and placed a paw on her back. Before she could ask any questions though, the figure faded away. And yet, something surged inside her, ready to tear herself open and get out.

Reality then returned to her, with the fashionista finding herself once more on the ground.

She then got up, a twisted smile forming on her face as Junko glanced towards her partner.

"Ready to do this, Veemon?" Junko inquired and Veemon nodded.

 **Veemon dark infusion digivolve too… Draoniamon!**

A purple beam then shot out of the fashionista, only to be absorbed by the wingless wyvern. A black light then engulfed the digimon, leaving behind a creature that looked like a cross between a purple dragon and a cat. The beast stood on its hind quarters, reaching to the top of Junko's hair. A pair of bluish purple eyes stared towards her doppelganger, ready to use its pair of scimitars upon the fake.

 _Scanning…_

 **Draoniamon**

 **Champion, Despair**

 **Special Moves: Dragon Slash, Draonia Inferno**

 **.**

 **Despair: I guess it fits you, especially the type!**

 **Junko: I could say the same about you, considering how you're named is in this entry.**

 **Despair: I'm not listening!**

 **Junko: Whatever.**

 _Scan Complete._

"Let's do this." Draoniamon remarked, only for her and Junko to charge towards their opponent.

 **Draonia Inferno!**

Draoniamon then opened her mouth, only for a stream of lava to shoot out and burn the face of their opponent.

 **Dragon Slash!**

With their opponent now stunned, both girl and dragon pulled their blades back and slammed them into Despair. The clone then tumbled back, reverting back into a cloud of dark mist.

"You win this time…" it warned and faded away in front of them. After, the two just stood in the hallway.

"So now what?" Junko inquired, only for Draoniamon to revert back.

"We could go find our room." Veemon remarked and Junko sighed.

"I guess that could wo-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a hand was placed on her shoulder. When the fashionista turned around, she found no one there.

"Let's just get going." Junko whispered, motioning for Veemon to follow. The hallway of blood and shit quickly became a passing memory as they turned left and found themselves in a much more normal hallway lined with an absurd amount of doors. Thankfully, they all had the 16-bit avatars next to them. "Here we go."

The two now stood at the door to Junko's room. Even then, their gazes were more focused on the sprite beside the door than the passage itself.

"It doesn't suit you at all." Veemon remarked and Junko sighed. For as much as she agreed with her partner, now wasn't quite the right time.

She opened the door, revealing a simple room. Or would have been, if the dull golden walls and tatami floor weren't covered in places with larges splotches of pink blood. Just they found the source of this pink mess, a loud of blast seemingly random

A nude body hung to the left wall, its short black hair blowing quietly amid the A/C unit as a pair of faded grey eyes seemingly glared into their soul. Long metal poles had been stabbed through her body and into the wall, with a truly grateful message above her in the victim's blood.

I still remember, tamer.

Truly such a fall from grace cannot be left unpunished for your crimes.

"No…" Junko whispered, only to fall to the floor. The images of the bodies flooded back into her mind once more, forcing the 'tamer' into a ball.

"It'll be alright, Junko." Veemon answered, placing her left on Junko's back. "We'll figure this out."

Junko only sighed and took a deep breath. She would get to the bottom of this, make no doubts about it.

 _0: Prologue - Returning back to Hell end_

38/39 Students remain


	2. 1: Chapter 1 - Masking of Oneself

_Investigation Start!_

Those two words felt so familiar and yet, seemed so far apart to her. Everything about this felt like deja vu without be able to decipher the source of where it had originated from.

Nonetheless, Junko took one more deep breath and stared at the body. She was reminded of someone, but couldn't quite seem to put a name to the face.

"Veemon, any clue who this person is?" The fashionista finally inquired, only to get no response from the digimon.

"No, but there's something familiar about her." Veemon answered and joined her master in their staredown.

 **Truth Knife 'Initial Observations' acquired!**

Ignoring the new pop-up, Junko took a step towards the body and opened the mouth up. There didn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary, except for the card shoved into the mouth. She pulled it out, revealing it to be that of a tarot card displaying a hobo with his bag on a stick. At the bottom of the card, there was just a white 0.

 **Truth Knife 'Tarot Card - Fool' acquired!**

 **Truth Knife 'Initial Observations' updated!**

Junko placed the card in her pocket and turned her attention back to the body. This time, focusing on the midsection rather than the head. While the bloody spikes seemed to be a likely candidate for the cause of death, none of the metal poles appeared to have ruptured any vital organs.

 **Truth Knife 'Bloody Spikes' acquired!**

 **Truth Knife 'Initial Observations' updated!**

"Now, where could the murder weapon be?" Junko thought, her gaze focusing in on the large splotches of blood.

 **Truth Knife 'Splotches of blood' acquired!**

She followed the splotches across the room, only for it to lead up onto her bed. There, the sheets had all been strewn about with the pillow tossed off both sides of the mattress. All the blood on there seemed to be focused towards the northern end, where one would usually have found the pillows.

 **Truth Knife 'Blood on bed' acquired!**

 **Truth Knife 'Splotches of blood' updated!**

Junko took a deep breath and pulled her electro-id out. Instead of loading up her profile, the device instead loaded up the 'evidence' tab. At the moment, it currently listed the handful of truth knives she currently had and nothing else. She switched to the application list, pulling the camera up and snapped a photo of the crime scene.

 **Truth Knife 'Crime scene photo' acquired!**

At the very least, the fashionista had at least varied her evidence up a little bit.

"Mistress, is that you?"

Junko turned around, finding a figure at the doorway. It was a teenage girl, dressed in a pink top and blue skirt, with a white apron covering both articles of clothings. A pair of white tennis shoes covered her feet, going well with her black hair and faded gray eyes.

"Uh…" Junko answered, unsure what to even say to this person.

"You're not her at all!" The figure announced and charged towards her, grabbing hold of Junko. "You wear the mask, but you're not her."

 **Mikan Tsumiki would really like to 'bond' with you right now.**

 **Do you accept?**

 **[Yes]**

The fashionista only sighed and clicked the box.

"At the very least, you're obedient." Mikan announced and cracked a twisted smile towards her captive. "We're going to have so much fun."

Junko took a deep breath.

"What do you want to do?" she answered, cautious of what her playmate wanted to do.

"I was going to have you be my assistant." Mikan explained as she continued stared towards Junko.

"I'm in the middle of the investigation, Mikan."

As she said that, a large white swan then ran up to the two. Almost instantly, the twisted facade of the nurse shattered into a million pieces, leaving just a cowering teenager kneeling on the ground.

"Mikan, what are you doing?!" the creature announced and slammed her wings into the nurse. "I told you stay in your room and entertain yourself!"

Mikan then took a step back, only to stare towards Junko once more.

The fashionista only took a deep breath and approached the duo.

"Hey!" Junko shouted and slapped the bird's face. "You really can't treat your partner that way!"

The digimon glanced towards her, possibly having a sudden realization. But at the same time, unable to figure the reason behind it.

"Fine then." the bird responded and headed out the door. "I'll just leave her to you for the moment."

"Good riddance." Veemon remarked as the two returned their attention to Mikan. "Are you alright?"

Mikan whimpered, but smiled.

"Yeah…" the girl answered and got up. "Thank you, Junko."

Mikan then went in for the hug, only for the fashionista to take a step back.

"Uh… No hugs for now." Junko explained, only for Mikan to get up close to her. "Now what?"

"Thank you for helping me, tamer." Mikan whispered and left the room. "Hopefully, I'll be able to eventually return the favor to you."

 **You now feel closer to Mikan.**

The girl and wyvern only stood there, possibly attempting to decipher the nurse's mysterious remark.

"Tamer…" Junko whispered, listening to the sound of it roll off her tongue. For as much as she wanted to pursue this lead, she still had the dead body to deal with. "Back to investigating, I guess."

She returned her focus to the body, deciding to examine the head this time. She pulled the body part back, revealing a large wound covered in pink blood.

"This must be the cause of death."

 **Truth Knife 'Cause of Death' acquired!**

 **Truth Knife 'Initial Observations' updated!**

 **Truth Knife 'Splotches of blood' updated!**

 **Truth Knife 'Blood on bed' updated!**

The fashionista took a deep breath, pulling the tarot card out of the victim's mouth. Junko was pretty certain she had found all the evidence within this scene. Now, she needed to find the owner of the tarot card.

Junko and Veemon exited their room, only to freeze.

The killer had struck once more, leaving behind a second body hanging within the area. This time though, it was that of a naked adult male with hair that looked like a giant crystal ball. Similar to the last body, a nice message was written above them in their blood.

The devil is in the details, is it not?

But you're late, my little 'star'.

Junko cautiously approached the body and pulled the mouth open, revealing a face-down tarot card. She then flipped it over, revealing a black horned skull. On the bottom was the roman numerals XV.

 **Truth Knife 'Tarot Card - Demon' acquired!**

37/39 students remain


	3. 2: Chapter 1 - Masking of Oneself

Junko sighed.

It had begun once more. And like the last time, the killer was nowhere to be found. At this point, they were just taunting her, trying to get her frustrated enough to give up.

She took a deep breath. After all, the fashionista had managed to investigate one dead body. The second one had to be a piece of cake.

"It'll be alright." The fashionista thought as she looked the dead person over. Unlike the last person, no physical wounds could be found upon the body. Likewise, the only blood found on him appeared to be around the neck area where the noose hung.

 **Truth Knife 'Cause of Death #2' acquired!**

 **Truth Knife 'Noose' acquired!**

"This can't be everything."

Junko glanced around the hall. While she was the only one currently in the vicinity, there just had to be some clue that could lead her to the culprit. She turned her attention to the door and pulled it opened, revealing the room of the deceased.

Inside, it room was quite plain and boring. A black carpet covered the floor and four red walls surrounded her and Veemon. The only real furniture appeared to be a neatly folded bed and a chester drawers. An oak desk had been placed beside it, with a handful of papers lying on top of it.

"I'm guessing this is the room of the deceased." Veemon remarked and Junko nodded. "I expected to find more pot."

Junko glanced over at her partner with a confused look.

"What? He just seems like the sort of person that would do that."

Junko laughed as she walked over to the desk, examining the papers.

 _Project Dream_

 _The purpose of Project Dream is too explore and establish a base within the Dream World._

 _Those who want to be part of the expedition please contact Julie Enoshima._

 **Truth Knife 'Project Dream' Acquired!**

The two stared at the paper, doing a double take.

"Mom?" Junko whispered as her partner sighed.

"That's your mom?" Veemon added. "That would explain why she shoved me in a box?"

"Huh?"

Veemon sighed and took a deep breath.

"I guess I probably should to tell you." she explained as the two sat down.

Junko was eight now, on the verge of becoming nine that day. She is all alone and unhappy about it, her only wish to see her friend once more.

"Come on, have some cake." her sister, Mukuro Ikusaba, suggested. "You can't be unhappy on a day like today."

Junko ignores her and takes a deep breath. Already she had been forced to dye her hair strawberry blonde and wear a bunch of stupid clothes chosen by her mother. At this point, things weren't looking up for her. And now, the most 'hopeful' part of this celebration. The opening of the presents was always the most interesting part of the celebration. It could be the time of greatest hope or the time of great despair. Only two presents remained. The first, appeared to be hastily put together with a bunch of purple paper and tape. The second gift, had been carefully wrapped in wrapping paper with a bunch of balloons.

"Which one should I choose?" Junko thought as she stared at the two boxes, eventually focusing on the second box. Maybe this would be the turning point within this mess. She reluctantly tore at the wrapping and opened the box, revealing…  
A small blue creature, unhappy to be in said box. At first, she had wanted to feel some sort of surprise. But that quickly grew into anger and rage as Junko stared up towards her mom, who currently had a huge grin on her face.

"I realize it isn't her." Julie explained and flashed a smile at her daughter. "But can't you make a new friend instead?"

Junko didn't answer, instead flinging the box to the ground and walked away. Everything then went black as the memory faded away.

When her vision finally did return to Junko, she found herself laying on the floor of Yasuhiro's room.

"Good, you're still alive." Veemon announced as Junko got up and walked out to her room, without saying anything to her partner. And yet, the rookie understood why. Veemon would never measure up to her. But, who was she kidding? It was no contest.

"She still wants Victoria, doesn't she?"

Veemon looked up and froze, finding Mikan standing beside her.

"What do you know, Mikan?" Veemon accused and the nurse laughed.

"Many things." Mikan answered and cracked a smile. "Bring her to me after she finds the gift."

Mikan then left the room, leaving Veemon all alone. Reluctantly, the wyvern made her way back to her master's room. Inside, Junko sat on the floor, the unopened present in her hands.

"Junko, are you alright?" Veemon whispered as Junko shook her head.

"It's time to move on, isn't it?" the fashionista shouted as her partner stood there. The two then acknowledged each other, already knowing the problem at hand. Even as they acknowledged the problem, it didn't change the truth of the matter. The duo knew what they needed to do, even if seemed backwards and/or out of place within the scheme of things.

"Here goes." Junko whispered and tore at the haphazard wrapping. After a few minutes of joy and agony, the package finally revealed its secrets.

Inside, was an outfit and a small slip of paper. Junko gravitated towards the paper, giving it a quick glance.

 _Dear Chouko,_

 _If you're reading this, there is still time. As long as you remember that, there is nothing you can't take down._

 _-Victoria_

Junko smiled and whispered something into Veemon's ear, the wyvern leaving the room. When the fashionista did finally leave her room, Veemon did a double take.

Gone was the overdressed strawberry blonde girl, having been replaced with a cute redhead. Her outfit was quite simple, just a lavender spaghetti-strap tank top with a black skirt and gray pumps. Her hair had been tied into two longs bangs, with pink and purple ribbons braided in.

"So, how do I look?" Junko joked as Mikan approached.

"Beautiful." Mikan answered as Swanmon joined them. "Do you get it now?"

"Yes." Junko and Veemon simultaneously answered and the group made their way back to Yasuhiro's body, ready to truly investigate it...


	4. 3: Chapter 1 - Masking of Oneself

Chapter 4

It didn't take them that long to get there.

After all, it was just right across from Junko's room. Nothing to get too dramatic about, for some reason.

"Please stop." Junko whispered in the futile attempt to silence the author. "We're trying to investigate here!"

The fashionista then took a deep breath and returned her attention back to the hanging dead body. She had attempted to investigate earlier, only to get sidetracked by a pamphlet. At least now, she had some actual support to back her up this time.

"I'll check for injuries." Mikan explained and placed her left hand on the body. "While I did do that, you can look for more evidence."

"Sounds good." Junko whispered and watched Mikan for a brief second before heading back into the victim's room.

Nothing had really changed since she had last been here. Well, other than Junko taking the Project Dream paper. Everything was still in order, as the person barely got a chance to use it.

She made her way back over to the desk and took a deep breath, looking the rest of the papers over. Most of them appeared to be documents related to the 'Future Foundation'. Most of it was about two 'mutual killing games' and the 'Worst, most despair-inducing incident in the history of humanity' that were caused by one 'Junko Enoshima' and the group SHSL Despair.

 **Truth Knife "Future Foundation Files" acquired!**

"Huh?" she thought as a feeling dread invaded her body. "That can't be true. Right Veemon?"

Veemon only sighed and looked towards Junko. There was no use in lying.

"It is, Junko." Veemon answered as Junko look around the room, searching for something to prove both of them wrong. But no matter where she looked, the truth was still the same answer as before. For now, the fashionista would just have to continue on. After all, redemption can only be gained by heading forward and proving those that doubt you wrong.

"Wait, you make sense…" Junko whispered. "Which seems odd, coming from you."

She took another deep breath and attempted to return her attention to the papers. Now though, it just seemed to be more words going into frightening detail of what she had done. Words like murder, suicide, jaywalking were just a small fraction of the words used in the document to describe the fallout of what she did. If she wanted to redeem herself, the road ahead would be quite long and treacherous. But Junko was ready to take it on with all she had to give.

"Is that so?" a voice accused as a high-pitched scream filled the air. "Oopsy."

Junko and Veemon ran out of the room and froze.

Mikan now laid on the floor, a large puddle of blood forming around her head. Swanmon appeared to be in a similar state, without the blood for some reason,

In front of them was some nameless teenage girl. She was dressed quite elaborately in a white shirt and short purple skirt with a light orange tie and purple jacket over it. A pair of purple knee-high high heel boots covered her legs while a pair of purple gloves covered her hands. Finishing off her look was a pair of pale purple eyes and long lilac hair with a side braid on her left. Strangely, a bloody baseball bat hung by her side.

"It's you." the girl remarked and took a step towards Junko. "I'm not sure how you charmed her into working with you and really, I don't care. But now, it is your time to die."

Junko only stood there, completely confused by the current situation she found herself in. She had no clue who this girl was or why she even wanted to kill her in the first place. No, scratch that. The fashionista was pretty certain this had something to do with the files, but she wasn't quite sure how. Nonetheless, she pulled her knives out and motioned for Veemon to stay beside her.

"And your point is?" Junko casually answered.

"Just die." her opponent whispered and charged towards the fashionista, swinging the bat towards her. Junko responded by swinging her knives into the weapon and knocked both of them back.

 **Veemon dark infusion digivolve too… Draoniamon!**

The pink dragoness now stood beside her master, ready to take this monster on.

"Bring it." their opponent shouted and pulled her bat back, only to kick Junko to the ground. She then proceeded to slam her bat into her, a shallow attempt at cleansing the darkness to be inherited from this technically unjustified murder.

"Just shut the fuck up." the opponent announced and slammed the bat down towards Junko. "Today, you're tyranny ends."

 **Draonia Inferno!**

The stream of lava landed a direct hit upon this mystery opponent, knocking her back quite a bit. Junko quickly scrambled up and slowly approached the nameless girl.

"I really don't want to do this." she thought and looked towards Mikan's body, taking a deep breath as she did. While the fashionista hadn't really known Mikan for that long, nor did she know her that well. In a way, she wanted to know more about the nurse. And yet, all it took was a blow to the head to bring it too the end. "But you've given me no choice."

Her opponent didn't even answer her, totally content with the fate she brought upon herself. Both combat knives then slammed into the bat, knocking it quite a distance down the hall.

"Aren't you going to end me now?" their opponent accused as Junko and Draoniamon ignored her, focusing a majority of their attention on Mikan and Swanmon. "I just killed your friends and was ready to kill you! Aren't you going to do the same to me?"

Junko took a deep breath and laughed, finally returning her attention to this unnamed girl.

"Because people can change." Junko whispered as her opponent laughed.

"Are you so sure?" the opponent whispered as a twisted smile formed on her face. "The hierophant's chariot holds much strength within these halls. In the end, can the fool bring justice back to the tower and flip the wheel of fortune?"

 **Truth Knife 'Mysterious Riddle' acquired!**  
The fashionista stared blankly at the girl and took a deep breath, walking away as she did. Draoniamon was ready to follow right behind until-

 _Despair Mode: Mikan Tsumiki activating..._

"I don't think that's good at all." Junko whispered as a bright light engulfed both Mikan and Swanmon. For now, they would would have to wait and see…

 _36/39 Students remain?_


	5. 4: Chapter 1 - Masking of Oneself

Chapter 5

4: Chapter 1 - Masking of Oneself

"Well, isn't that wonderful?" still unnamed girl announced as the beam of light continued to blaze within the hall. "Who would have guess that would happen?"

Junko continued to ignore her. Even then, it wasn't really that hard to accomplish with their opponent waiting to die with starvation.

"You suck as a murderer." Junko announced, with Draoniamon nodding in agreement. "Even then, you could possibly go and do something else."

The girl gave her a confused look. As if this was somehow a mystical observation handed down by the author. Which it wasn't. So the still unnamed girl finally left, leaving just Junko and Draoniamon.

"Why the hell are you even talking about this?" Junko whispered as the light around Mikan dissipated.

A twisted body now stood in Mikan's place. What was once her nurse outfit now looked ready to fall into a million pieces. A pair of bony wings now hung from her back, casually fluttering within the hall. Short claws shot out from each finger, ready to tear apart anything that possibly came near her. Swanmon was gone now, having been consumed within her master's transformation.

"Mikan?" Junko whispered and cautiously approached the nurse. "Uh... what happened to you?"

Mikan gave her a confused glance, unsure what she was talking about.

"What do you mean?" the former nurse inquired, as if this was also a mystical question to be solved by someone. "Aren't we currently in Hope's Peak, plotting to overthrow your mom?"

Junko looked at her with a blank stare, unsure of how to answer the former nurse.

"No, actually." Junko whispered and took a deep breath. "The past few hours have been mostly me and whoever reading this attempting to figure what the fuck was going on."

"Okay then."

Both girls then took a deep breath and embraced each other.

"I'm guessing we have a lot to talk about then." Mikan whispered and Junko nodded. "Let's take a walk shall we?"

The two headed forth down the hall and Mikan began to speak some more.

.

"Are you sure about this, Chouko?" Mikan inquired.

Currently, the two were standing in a dark room, a single lantern their sole source of light.

"It's the only way." Chouko answered and took a deep breath. "It doesn't matter much at this point, we just have give the future one more chance of hope."

Outside, the rumble of gunfire fills the air once more. It was a common sound to hear at the academy, a far cry from the sounds of people talking. Kind of a shame in a way, to see this once great academy fall to ruin. Soon, she would find the two girls, sealing their fates for who knows how long. Nonetheless, Mikan pulls a piece of paper out and scribbles something on there. She then hands it to Chouko, who takes a deep breath.

"I believe this is goodbye now." Chouko adds and heads to the door. "Good luck."

Mikan watches as Chouko runs out of the room and back into the ruined halls of the academy. She then takes a deep breath and turns the lantern off. For as crazy as Chouko's plan seemed to bi, it was all they and the other students had at the moment. It was a long shot, but one they would need to take.

.

 **Memory Dagger 'Mikan's Memories' acquired!**

"And that's it." Mikan whispered and Junko took a deep breath. "Any questions?"

"Yes." Junko answered. "So you just remembered this?"

"Yep."

Junko stared to her friend with a confused look, unsure of how to react to this newfound information. At face value, it seemed distant and far-fetched. Upon closer examination though, it made sense in a way. It wouldn't surprise her at all if this was from the 'original' first point, where she had lost her memories and became a puppet for some unknown force. She took a deep breath. Now was not the time to be dwelling on the past.

"Next question, are you still in the game?" The tamer whispered.

"Yes." Milan whispered back. "I just have one final life remaining, even if it did mean that Swanmon is now a part of me."

"Oh." Veemon whispered.  
The tamer took a deep breath. That was one less thing to worry about. Yet, Junko still had the task of solving these two mu-

 _[Despair Pollution Noise]_

The two girls stopped in their tracks. There, two naked bodies stared wide-eyed at each from opposite walls. The first corpse appeared to be that of a fat guy with chestnut-colored hair in the shape of a spike. The second body was that of a petite girl with two long burgundy braids. Both bodies had been hammered into the wall, leaving quite an indent to behold. On the floor, a nice message had been scrawled in pink.

You hermits really need to get out more, maybe then you'll cower under my strength.

"Great." Junko whispered. "Just when I thought we we're finally catching a break."

"That is just how some days are." Mikan added. "I guess we need to keep fighting."

 _Investigation Start!_

Almost immediately, Junko focused her gaze on the message. It was another riddle, like the one told to her earlier.

 **Truth Knife 'Riddle #2' acquired!**

"I found something, Junko." Mikan whispered and motioned for the tamer to come over. "It appears that our culprit did a bit more than just hammer on them."

The nurse then pointed towards the chest of the victim on the left, who had a tarot card sticking out of their chest. Junko carefully pulled it out and gave it a look. It was another tarot card, this one displaying a hanging cage with a single light.

Truth Knife 'Cause of Death' acquired!

Truth Knife 'Tarot Card - Hermit' acquired!

"So how they die?" she whispered as Mikan returned her gaze to her.

"That's the interesting thing." Mikan answered. "One would think it would be the blow from the hammer. But it isn't. They were poisoned beforehand and then had their ribcages smashed."

 **Truth Knife 'Mikan's Autopsy' acquired!**

 **Truth Knife 'Cause of Death #3' acquired!**

"Hello there!"

The two girls and Veemon turned around, finding Despair floating before them.

"What do you want now?" Junko accused and pulled both of her knives out.

"Now, now, don't be so hasty." Despair answered and took on her 'Old Junko' form. "I came to get you two."

Their gazes immediately focused on the solid cloud of darkness, curious of what it wanted now.

"For what?" Veemon whispered as Despair cleared its throat.

"To the class trial, of course!"  
The girls focus quickly gave away to a look of confusion.

"Lead the way?" Mikan whispered as Despair headed off, leading the trio to a large elevator. There a group of assorted people standing waiting for them. Among them is the killer, waiting to be discovered…


	6. 5: Chapter 1 - Masking of Oneself end

Chapter 5

5: Chapter 1 - Masking of Oneself

The ride down was quite uneventful.

No one really talked and even when they did, it was an attempt to start a conversation. They probably wanted this dream to eventually end and they would just wake up. I don't blame them for wanting to be done with all of this. Death is both a frustrating and demoralizing thing that few people within here are ready to take once more.

"Whatever." Junko whispered as the elevator began its descent. "You monologues aren't helping at all."

The author ignored her comment, instead deciding to watch the elevator casually make its way down.

"Okay then." Junko thought as she examined the other occupants in the elevator. Not including her and Mikan, there appeared to be four boy and two additional girls with them. Of which, they didn't seem interesting at all. Heck, the author would probably introduce them down at the courtroom. At the very least, a few of them.

"At the very least, we made it." Veemon added. "And we're not dead!"

Mikan's gaze then focused on the wingless wyvern, a frustrated expression forming upon it.

"I died!" Mikan shouted.

"We saved you though." Veemon answered and cracked a smile. "It all worked out."

Junko sighed and turned her attention to the two companions. She really didn't want to deal with this at the moment, instead the tamer decided to look through her pockets for anything of use. Other than a few pieces of gum, someone had managed to shove a note into her pocket. She pulled it out and looked it over.

Dear Chouko,

If you're reading this, I have left you once again. As much as I would like to join you right now, I can't. All I ask is for you to keep fighting. Only then can we finally reunite.

-Victoria

For as nice of a note it was, Junko shoved it back into her pocket. Whatever relation they had in the past was just that. The past.

"Stupid whatever the fuck she was." Junko thought and took a deep breath. "You just ca-"

Before she could complete her thought, the elevator reached the destination and everyone exited. Junko took a deep breath as she cleared her mind. Whatever this class trial turned out to be, the tamer would just have to roll with it. At the very least, it would be a new experience for her.

"Let's do this." she whispered and headed towards the large group standing at a massive door. It wasn't that impressive of one, having been sloppily painted red with some hastily placed gold accents to boot. Beside it, someone had scrawled a message for them.

Only those that can look past the lies of the past can truly free themselves from this academy.

Then, a new hope can be forged for the whole world.

"Okay then." Mikan whispered as the doors suddenly swung open. On the other side, a large room in the shape of an assist trophy from the SSB series. Unlike the assist trophy though, nearly everyone there already knew what was going down. While none of them wanted to do it, this had to be done.

"Welcome, one and all to the class trial!" Despair announced and took on the form of a Monokuma. "Let's give it everything we got!~"  
Junko and Veemon looked on, not quite sure how to react. None of this really made any sense, not that either of them expected it too.  
"Can we get an explanation?" Junko inquired and stared towards Despair. "Neither of us have a legitimate clue of what's going on."

"Too bad." Despair answered and changed forms, now appearing to be some girl with her silver hair tied into a long braid. "I guess you'll just have to figure it out then!"

As that was said, someone decided to fire their gun off towards the mastermind. While the bullets did miss, that still didn't make the situation any better.

"How dare you take her form in my presence!" a boy accused as he took a step towards their target. "Do you really wish to go that way?"

Despair only laughed as some sort of energy surged around her, ready to make its way towards the boy.

"I could say the same thing about you, actually." Despair answered and sighed. For as much as she enjoyed it, this always seemed to be the most grindiest of parts. Hopefully, they could get through this successfully without any hiccups. And by that, anything stupid happening. Oh wait…

"Did you have to do that?" Despair shouted and slammed its fist against a wall. "I've already had enough of waiting on you to continue this!"

Boo hoo hoo. Just deal with it for the time being.

After that was said, silence fell on the courtroom and everyone went to their pedestals with a bit of reluctance. Once more it had began and they could do nothing to stop it yet.

"I still have no clue how this works." Junko whispered as she looked over to the picture in the podium to the right of her, finding it to be that of the first body she had investigated. It probably had only been an hour since this whole mess had started, yet it felt like a whole lot longer. Not that she really knew what the actual time even was. It was probably some stupidly late hour anyhow.

"Let us begin, shall we?" Despair announced as the room spun around at least once, possibly throw everyone involved for a loop. Not that it really did.

"Let's just get this over with." Junko added as a prompt appeared in front of her.

Would you like to fuse these truth bullets?

Cause of Death #1 - 3

The tamer looked the message over, unsure of what to really do. Personally, either option was a worthy, with it only depending on what Junko wanted.

"Fine then." Veemon whispered as she watched her master's gaze focus not on the prompt but on the middle of the circle of people. The object in question appeared to be a set of four braziers, of which only the southern one had been lit. "Junko?"

"Yeah?!" Junko answered and broke her gaze away from the braziers. "What is it?"

Veemon took a deep breath and sighed, using her left hand to point to the prompt and watched her master return their attention to it and click 'no'.

"There." the tamer announced and looked right towards Despair. "So, we're basically trying to figure out who killed a bunch of people."

"Yes stupid." Despair answered. "Why did you think we were here?"  
"To deliberate like normal people?"

The mist-like figure didn't answer, leaving Junko no more closer than she was before. The tamer took a deep breath and scanned the room, her gaze eventually stopping upon some teenage girl. On closer inspection, she appeared to be wearing a black schoolgirl outfit with a very short tan skirt and white loafers. Her platinum blonde hair had been cut short with a black bow in the back, which went quite well with pale gray eyes and a cocky look.

"You did it! You're the one who murdered those people!" Junko announced as the girl did a double take and laughed.

"Good work, 'detective'." the girl answered as a grin formed on her face. "Now, tell me why I did it?"

"For revenge." Junko responded and took a deep breath.

The girl's grin then twisted as she focused in on Junko.

"What lucky guesses. A shame you'll have to die."

Tamer, digimon and assistant just stood there, unsure of how to react to all of this. It all seemed so bizarre and yet sensible.

"Bring it!" the trio simultaneously announced and glanced towards their opponent. Their opponent did the same, with some sort of humanoid lion thing backing the chick up.

 **Killer Confrontation engaged!**

With that announcement, the circle expanded and both sides found themselves within it. Junko, Mikan and Veemon stood on the left with their opponents on the right.

 **Veemon dark infusion digivolve too… Draoniamon!**

Once more, the pink dragoness took Veemon's place as Junko pulled her combat knives out. While those two did that, their opponents pulled out a baseball bat and a sword respectively.

"Begin!" Despair announced as Junko just stood there, waiting for her opponent to act.

 **Slash of the Beast King!**

The lion then charged towards the trio, ready to slice them to pieces. Yet they continued to stand there like a group of drunken morons. But then…

 **Draonia Blaze!**

A fireball shot out of Draoniamon's mouth, incinerating the lion. Strangely, this seemed to leave behind a nice t-bone steak for some reason.

"How dare you!" the girl answered and decided to repeat what her digimon did. This time though, Junko ran up to her and swung both knives into the bat. "Grrr… Just give up already!"  
"Why?" the tamer inquired as she pulled both of her blades out of the bat. "Wouldn't that make the point of this fight meaningless?"

The opponent didn't answer, instead choosing to swing the bat towards Junko's head.

"You will die for what you brought fo-"

Before that sentence could even be finished, Junko kicked the girl in the stomach and knocked her to the ground along with knocking the bat out of the play area.

"It's over." Draoniamon added as the three exited the circle. "We aren't going to kill you."

Their opponent didn't answer, instead cracking a twisted smile. She then got back up and charged towards them, only to suddenly find herself unable to move.

"What a shame." Despair responded and snapped its fingers. What followed, was the girl just blowing up. "Trial over! Everyone head back to their rooms! I'll revive the dead later!"

"That's it?" Junko accused and looked towards her captor. "Don't I get a reward?"

"Of course." Despair added and flung a knife over to the tamer. "Here you go."

 **Memory Dagger 'Kanon's Memories' acquired!**

 **Memory Dagger 'Future Foundation File' acquired!**

 **Memory Dagger 'Project Dream Document acquired!**

 **Memory Dagger 'Junko's Amnesia' acquired!**

 **Memory Dagger 'Victoria' acquired!**

"Thanks I guess?" Junko answered as the trio followed their classmates back towards the elevator…

.

Byakuya Togami took a deep breath.

"Truly a shame." the heir thought as he stared at the dead body. "I allowed you out of my sight for a second and look at what happens."

Even as he stood in front of the dead body, a strange feeling seemed to be creeping towards him. He made a quick glance behind himself, finding his still nude partner standing there. Strangely, the feeling disappeared as he did this.

"Can you please put some clothes on?" Byakuya whispered, only for them to ignore him. "Fine."  
The heir then returned his attention back to the body, only for the feeling to return. He carefully approached the body and gave it a slight tap.

"Hi Master!"


	7. 6: Chapter 2 - Grabbing Hold

Chapter 7

Byakuya took another deep breath.

As he stared towards the rotting corpse of his 'girlfriend', a rush of feelings came to him. A part of him was happy to see that Toko was somehow miraculously alive. But by the same token, the heir had been taken by surprise. The writer's body looked to be ready to fall apart, with a majority of her body looking quite thin. In a couple of places, one could make out the quite fragile joints holding her limbs together. Her eye sockets were a pair of empty voids, rendering her theoretically blind. Yet, Toko somehow managed to maintain eye contact with him. Her outfit was still the same as before, with the only major difference being it more faded and ripped up.

"Master?" Byakuya whispered and took a deep breath. "You're quite funny, Toko. Just call me, Byakuya."

Toko stared back at him, suddenly confused by his comment.

"Toko? Is your head full of marbles or something? It's Syo." 'Toko' answered and pulled out a pair of scissors, pointing them towards the heir and his nude companion. "Or have you forgotten? I guess I'll need to fix that…"

A second later, one of the scissors pierced Byakuya's skull as his vision slowly began to darken.

"You whore!" his digimon announced and muttered something under her breath. Somehow, this was enough to make a purple liquid form on her hands.

 **Nazer Nail!**

"Aww… Aren't Lilithmon the cutest?" 'Toko' joked, only to get a shriek from her opponent. Lilithmon then slammed her hands into the writer, watching the goop cling on. "Is that really the best you got? For someone once known as Magi Scholar, you have lost your touch."

"Syo…" Byakuya whispered as everything went dark.

Byakuya Togami opened his eyes.

The hallway was gone now, having been replaced with a cyan green void. Lilithmon laid beside him, strangely now fully clothed. Or in this case, a gray blouse with a matching skirt. Her short black hair had been tied into a bun, going quite well with her purple eyes and pale skin.

"At least you understand the basic concept of clothes." Byakuya snarled, only for his digimon to roll her eyes.

"Well, excuse me master!" Lilithmon answered and took a deep breath. "It's not my fault I suddenly found myself without such things!"  
"Stupid slut."

"Four-eyed asshole."

What followed, was the duo hurling insults and slander at each other in an attempt to assert dominance.

"Enough!" a voice announced and the two turned around, finding a large light blue chinese-style dragon floating high above. "Good, you're both here."

Byakuya did a double take, unsure of how to really react to this. While a variety of weird stuff had occurred within the previous hours, this seemed to take the cake. Well, at least for the moment. He had a sneak suspicion this would be overshadowed at a later point.

"So, what you do you want with us?" the heir announced as he finally got himself up. Lilithmon did the same, only to suddenly kneel on the ground. "Did you have to do that?"  
"Yes." Lilithmon answered as Byakuya reluctantly copied.

"Now that I have both of your attention," the dragon explained, only to sigh. "Please tell me you both still have your memories?"

His audience looked towards then back at themselves, unsure of how to really answer that question. While being truthful on the matter was in their best interests, they didn't really have much of a clue what they were getting themselves into.

"Uh…" Byakuya answered and took a deep breath. "Of course we have our memories back! What could have possibly made you think that?"

The dragon did not answer, instead choosing instead to sigh. He had probably been hoping this would not be the case, but still somehow seemed willing to deal with both of them.

"Hmm… I guess I should introduce myself then." their host announced. "I am Lord Azulongmon, one of the four great sovereigns of the Digital World. How about you two?"  
"Byakuya Togami, Heir to the Togami Corporation." Byakuya whispered and glanced towards his partner. "And that's Lilithmon, my useless servant thing."

Azulongmon stared at the heir with a look of confusion.

"Are you sure about that?" the dragon answered and chuckled. "Personally, I would beg to differ. Maybe in time, you'll come to a much different answer."

The heir didn't answer, instead choosing to make a quick glance towards his partner. Maybe the dragon was right and his partner did have some form of potential. But for now though, he just wanted to know where they were and why they were here. He could figure it out from there.

But before he could even ask those sorts of questions, the world began to spin around as everything gradually faded to black.

.

Once more, Byakuya opened his eyes,

The hallway was back now, with him still laying on it. 'Toko' was long gone now, having left Lilithmon on the ground beside the heir. At the very least, she was clothed now.

"Ugh…" the heir whispered and pulled himself up, only to reluctantly to hold a hand out for his digimon. "Come on, let's head back to our room."

With that, Lilithmon got up and took a deep breath. The two then headed off, giving little focus to the hall they walked through. It was easier that way. Even then, they could just let the awkward silence between them do all the talking for them.

Thankfully, nothing of any interest happened on the way back to the dorms. The awkward silence followed right behind, serving as neither threat or ally. Even if it did seem to leave once they reached the dorms.

Byakuya casually opened the door, only to do a double take.

At first, everything seemed quite normal. The room hadn't been ransacked and there were no dead bodies to speak of. But on closer inspection though, someone had painted a mural.

The mural in question was of a trio of people. The person on the left held a staff in the air, seemingly charged with magical energy. The middle person had a sword and seemed quite enchanted by its 'beauty'. Finally, the person on the right appeared to be holding a set of daggers. Unlike the other two through, her gaze seemed to focused on the middle figure.

"Okay…" the heir whispered and the two stepped inside.

"There you are, master!"


	8. 7: Chapter 2 - Grabbing Hold

There were many mysteries within Despair Academy.

For example, why did the food from the cafeteria actually taste like food? Or why the sentient cloud of darkness and misery had decided to group them all together.

Or why were they being encouraged to kill each other repeatedly?

But at this particular moment, one question was on Byakuya's mind.

Why was the crazed murderer in their room?

"Oh hi guys!" Syo greeted and cracked a smile. "Just thought I would put my own personal touch on the room."

Neither of her 'companions' answered, instead choosing to watch on with a confused look.

"Did I do something wrong?" the corpse accused and ran over to Byakuya. "Tell me, master! I need to know!"

Byakuya took a deep breath and made a quick glance to his digimon. Of course, she was truly the greatest help in this sort of situation.

"Uh… Maybe you should have give us some heads up when you decide to do this sort of stuff. That's all."

"Understood!" Syo answered, only to collapse onto a nearby bed. "Nighty night!"

And with that, Byakuya and Lilithmon followed suit, allowing sleep to take them in…

.

With that, another day began within this wonderful academy.

Not that anyone could really tell, especially with all the permanently closed windows. For all they knew, Despair was purposely waking them up at the wrong times for it's own personal amusement. Hey, it's possible.

"Do I look I care?" Byakuya greeted as he sat himself up. "Never mind."

The heir turned his attention to the bed at the far end of the room, which was now occupied by Lillithmon.

"Ugh… Morning Byakuya." the digimon whispered and also sat up. "And no, I don't know where she went."

Byakuya took a deep breath and sighed. As much as he wanted to believe Syo was off getting herself breakfast or in the library reading a nice book, something told him this wasn't the case. Yet, he couldn't figure out why he even gave a damn about her. It was the sort of thing he couldn't quite wrap his head around. It was if there was a well concealed blank within in his memories, easily passed along but just as important as his other memories.

"Let's go find her." Byakuya whispered and got up. Lilithmon followed suit, quickly making sure everything was still there. Once that was done, the two exited their room and ran into Junko. "Oh, it's you."  
Junko didn't answer, instead choosing to just ignore the heir

"Hello? Anyone there?" Lilithmon added as Mikan took a deep breath.

"She wants to be left alone." the undead nurse whispered and attempted to push the obstacles away.

 **Nazer Nail!**

Purple goop formed upon Lilithmon's hands, which she flung at her opponents. This time, it was actually quite effective, managing to at least blind Mikan.

 **Veemon dark infusion digivolve too… Draoniamon!**

 **Draonia Inferno!**

A stream of lava then shot out towards Lilithmon, forcing the mega to step out of the way or risk being burned to death.

As this was all happening, the two humans were staring each other down.

"You should just go kill yourself." Byakuya snarled and pushed the tamer to the ground. "You've caused so much suffering for some people, be glad life has return to your worthless corpse."

"What did you say?" Junko inquired, as a twisted smile "Do you really think your words have power?! You know nothing but coldness and cruelty, Byakuya Togami. To see such a great warrior fall to such lows. Truly a shame."  
The heir looked at Junko with a mix of anger and confusion. Part of him wanted to just smash Junko into the ground, leaving her to die a painful death. Yet, something about her statement made the heir want to know more. There had to be some merit to her words, even if she was the reason they were all in this mess.

"There is no use to interrogating her." a voice whispered and Byakuya turned around, finding Syo standing before him. "That's all she knows."

"Please leave, both of you." Junko snarled and pulled her combat knives out. "I don't know where that information came from. That's it."

Both Byakuya and Syo chose to ignore her, choosing to instead focus on each other.

"Good work! You found me." Syo taunted and sprinted down the hall. "Let's play again!"  
"Hey!" Byakuya shouted as he motioned for Lilithmon to follow once more. "Get back here!"  
Their friend didn't answer, choosing instead to keep running. In a way, that was the most annoying thing about all of this. For all they knew, Syo could just keep running and they never could catch up. While they doubted this possibility, it was still worth considering.

"Okay…" Lilithmon whispered as the trio turned the corner at their respective top speeds. Which, were surprisingly much faster than one would expect it to be. "Whatever."

Of course, two of the three had managed to plow right through the wall and into a conveniently placed secret room.

Well, calling it a room might be a bit of an overstatement. It was at best, a large walk-in closet in terms of size. Of course, that was somehow made up by the ancient temple-esque architecture within. Because you know what, the supposed SHSL Builder needed something to do other than just sit around and leaf through magazines for ideas on things to do stave off their boredom. Especially when business is slow and the only work one could get was building death traps for evil people. Even that could get boring after a while, especially with your clientele gradually shrinking. But I digress.

Other than the out of place interior, the body of a silver-haired girl sat in a praying position in the middle of the room. Her limbs had been sloppily sliced off, with said appendages strewn about the area in even sloppier pieces. Among these piles were pools of recently dried blood, which seemed to be leading towards the front of the room. Of which, had the sole sight of a rusted sword in a pedestal with an upright playing card.

"Uh…" Byakuya whispered, only to take a deep breath. There was no point in questioning it. Instead, it was probably better to just investigate. He carefully made his way over to the sword pedestal and picked the card up. The picture in question was

Do you believe in love? The winds of change are coming, ready to blow those that seek to challenge the ways.

"Interesting." Lilithmon whispered, only to be interrupted by the loud click of something. "Get down!"

The duo then ducked, only for Byakuya to unintentionally yank the sword out and a second click to ring out.  
"What? Did you really think I would just have one bullet?"


	9. 8: Chapter 2 - Grabbing Hold

Chapter 9

Byakuya took a deep breath.

Of the many things he had expected to be dealing with at this moment, a vengeful guy with a gun fell quite low on said list. Though, the only thing below it were actually leaving this place and maybe having some understanding of what was even going on.

"So why actually do you want to kill us?" Byakuya whispered, only for the shooter to laugh and not answer. "Wonderful."

He took a deep breath and turned his attention to the sword. While the rusted weapon seemed like an ineffective tool for a weapon such as a firearm, something told him they would be able to pull through. Though, the solution for this situation didn't quite seem clear yet.

"Are you just going to stand there? We don't have all day!" the shooter announced as Lilithmon focused her gaze on them, finally noticing a teenage boy at the 'doorway'. He was quite short, which seemed to compliment with his white t-shirt and black jacket with white stripes. A similar pair of pants covered the lower half, going quite well with the white shoes and black tie around his neck. Short sandy blonde hair covered his head, with the sole matching left eye and a black eyepatch over the other.

"It's kind of hard to investigate when you're attempting to shoot at us!" Byakuya answered and took a deep breath, raising the sword up. "If you please, can you hold off on this pitiful grudge until we're done here?"

The shooter didn't answer, choosing to fire the weapon.

"Crap." Byakuya whispered and charged towards the entrance, holding the sword above him. Blade and gun connected, with the sword being the victor. For Byakuya though, there was an unfamiliar familiarity to it. Sort of like deja vu. Only here, it was less of a feeling and more of a motion. But I digress.

Of course, the shooter was still just standing there like an idiot.

"So, who are you then?" Lilithmon whispered as the two turned their attention to the boy. Yet, their defeated opponent didn't answer. "Were talking to you!"

The shooter didn't answer, choosing instead to fire off whatever was left in his gun. The only difference was Byakuya was now within in point blank range. The heir closed his eyes and waited for the sweet embrace of death. Yet, it never did come.

"Huh?" the heir whispered and turned his attention to the opponent, cracking a smile. "Well, you had your chance. My turn."

What followed, was a series of clunky sword strikes that only managed to maim the target.

"I'm out!"

 _Investigation Start!_

 **Truth Knife 'Crime Scene' acquired!**

 **Truth Knife 'Dead Body' acquired!**

 **Truth Knife 'Unnamed Shooter' acquired!**

 **Memory Dagger 'Rusted Sword' acquired!**

 **Memory Dagger 'Familiar Feeling' acquired!**

"Okay…" Byakuya whispered and made his way back over to the body, only to take a step back. On second inspection, the sight of it was even worse. Maybe it was the lack of limbs or perhap the weird position it was sitting in.

 **Truth Knife 'Dead Body' updated!**

"Does a notification have to appear every time I find some evidence?"

"I guess?" a voice whispered and the heir turned around, finding Junko and her team standing at the entrance.

"You do realize Byakuya tried to kill you not even five minutes ago?" Lilithmon added, only for her comment to fall on deaf ears.

 **Vee Headbutt!**

Veemon then jumped into the air and slammed her head into Byakuya's.  
"Hey!" the heir shouted, only for Lilithmon to laugh.

"Lighten up." Lilithmon whispered and Byakuya took a deep breath. Maybe his digimon partner right, to some extent. There really wasn't that much use in being negative, especially with their current situation. "Live a little."

"Fine."

With that the tamer and the heir turned their attention to the body once more, while Mikan performed her autopsy.

"It appears that the victim bled out from the wounds on their limbs, managing to pull themselves over somehow. That or magic was involved."  
Both Junko and Byakuya stared towards Mikan, unsure how to answer that. While both outcomes seemed likely, the magic one seemed to get on their nerves. While neither had reason to doubt the existence of such a thing, it just seemed like a weird thing to bring up right now.

"What makes you think that?" Veemon whispered, only for Mikan to sigh.

"It would take an incredible amount of time and force to even take on a combatant such as this one. Which means that the killer either got lucky, was using some sort of spell or magical object, somehow outmaneuvered them or a mix of all three."

 **Truth Knife 'Mikan's Autopsy' acquired!**

An awkward silence fell upon the group, threatening to tear apart what little they had brought together. Even that was quite paltry when you think about it. One was an asshole who was searching for a serial killer. The other, was an amnesiac whose actions got them into this mess but at the same time get them out of this kerfuffle.

"So, what's the plan?" Lilithmon whispered and received a sigh from her partner.

"We go find Syo." Byakuya whispered and gave Junko a small wave.

With that, the two groups went their separate ways. Junko and her crew would continue investigating the body and they would look for Syo and any more dead bodies. Though, they doubted the-

Before the author could finish the above sentence, the duo came upon both Syo and a dead body.

"What took you guys so long?" the reaper whispered and turned her attention to Byakuya, who decided to just stay silent for now. "It isn't like you be so silent. Is something wrong?"

The heir and his digimon didn't answer, choosing instead to just stare towards Syo.

"Answer me, dammit!"

"Fine." Byakuya whispered and took a deep breath. "Tell how we got to this point."

"Of course, master." Syo whispered, clearing her throat in the process. "Our story begins long ago in a place called the digital world…"


	10. 9: Chapter 2 - Grabbing Hold

Chapter 10

Our story begins on the continent of Forum, a small piece within the seemingly endless place known as the Digital World.

It is here in this walled-off city, where our flashback begins.

"What will it we do today?" a boy thinks as his small black cat walks up. "What do you think, BlackGatomon?"

The black cat digimon made a quick glance up, only to laugh.

"What we usually do!" BlackGatomon answers and jumps onto the boy's head.

"You don't want to something different?"

The feline did not answer. Instead it chose to continue to lay on the boy's head.

"Fine."

With that, the two headed off towards the edge of the city. Occasionally, they would make sure no one else had been following them. It was a good precaution to have in a place like this. Especially with strong wild digimon all about.

It didn't take long for the duo to reach their supposed destination, reaching the towering stone walls that surrounded the town. Supposedly, it was for their protection. Whether it was from the threat outside, or to hold them in was up for debate.

"Ready?" the boy whispered and laid down on the dirt, with his partner deciding to do the same.

Before them was a small crevice, just big enough for a small child and/or small digimon to pass through. And while the cat wasn't quite 'small', it wasn't that big either.

"Hey!" the cat shouts, only for it's remark to go on deaf ears. Not that it really mattered, with the two making their way to the other side.

Outside, a wooded area welcomes the duo in with open branches and bright leaves. It was here where the two felt most at ease, free from their troubles and sorrows. Had they knew what come that day, would they have turned around and headed back through the crevice? Or would they have continued on, willing to take on the consequences of their actions. Only time could bring the answer to that.

A loud scream then burst forth from deep in the forest, whisking away any plans these two may of had. It was as if fate had other plans for them, yet had decided to not to let them in on the plan. How dare that malevolent force do such a thing.

"Please stop." the boy whispers as they headed towards the scream, making sure to avoid any roots jutting out of the ground or small digimon burrows. Especially the latter, with their tendency to throw whatever was on hand at accidental intruders. "Were you even listening?"

He got no response, forcing himself to focus in on the scream. While he wasn't quite sure what awaited him there, the boy would be ready. Even if his whole line of defense was a small dagger and quick thinking.

Though, that was more than most people in this multiverse have ever possessed. And with which step, the scream for help seemed to grow louder. It was the sort of thing that started off mild and a tiny bit pleasant, only to grow into something monstrous and paralyzing. One could never be ready for what awaited.

When the boy and his cat got there, the duo wasn't quite sure what to think. While they now knew what had been screaming and the source of agony. It was a young girl, possibly around the same age around the same age as the boy. Though, there was one small problem though.

The screaming girl was already 'dead'. What little skin showed was the result of tears in what looked to be a tattered hand-me-down dress, clashing with the lack of eyes and long ratty braided needed a brushing. Her left leg had gotten stuck in a bear trap, with her right just about ready to have a similar fate.  
"Hold still." the boy whispered and cautiously made his way over to the bear trap, making sure that he wasn't caught by the fearsome jaws. It was the sort of thing that no person should ever have to deal with. Very carefully, he pulled his dagger out and motioned for his partner to stay behind him. "This might hurt."

The girl's face 'perked' up, which one could consider a major improvement over 'screaming in agony'. Not by much though, but an improvement nonetheless. What followed, was mix of cautious prying with the dagger and some just as cautious pulling by the boy and cat. Through an incredible mix of near-impossible luck and straight-up determination, the girl was freed from the accursed trap.

"What's your name?" the boy whispers as our flashback ends…

.

Returning to third person pov…

POV returned to normal!

 **Memory Dagger 'Syo's Memory' acquired!**

"Do you understand now?" Syo whispered and Byakuya took a deep breath. For as crazy as that story sounded, there seemed to be an air of truth to it.

"Maybe." Byakuya responded and made a quick glance towards Lilithmon, who was mumbling something to herself. "Lilithmon?"

The mega didn't answer, choosing instead to just close her eyes and concentrate. A few seconds later though, her clothes disappeared and were replaced by a set of plain 'magesque' robes.

"Well that worked." the now reclassed mage whispered and cracked a smile, even as her teammates just at her with a lot of confusion. "Magic."

"You guys are kind of loud." a voice announced and the trio turned around, finding Junko and her group standing there. Though, they looked quite tired from prior events. "People are trying to sleep."

"Oh." Syo whispered and turned her attention to Junko. "Good for you, Chouko."

The tamer gave her a look of both confusion and anger, pulling her combat knives out.

"Don't you ever say that name again." Junko answered as she charged towards the trio, just about ready to make mincemeat of their bodies. "Is that clear?"

"Absolutely, Chouko."

With Syo's latest remark, Junko slammed both knives right towards the stomach area.

"No." a voice whispered, only for Byakuya to push himself between the two girls. "This is not like you."

With that, the world went black as he remembered once more...


	11. 10: Chapter 2: Grabbing Hold End

Chapter 11

When our flashback last left off, the boy and the girl had just met.

Now, the two have grown quite a bit, finding themselves on the verge of adulthood. It was the sort of thing no one wanted to take on in the here and now, but never seemed to get a chance at stalling it. Of course, there is only so much one can be prepared for when things change.

"Wake up, sleepyhead." a voice announced, rousing the boy awake.

"Good morning." he whispers and stares up, finding a 'woman' gazing over him. "Is really that time already?"

"Yep." the 'woman' responded, watching as the boy sprung from his bed and ran over to his vanity. "Calm down. It's not a race."

Reluctantly, her partner decided to actually slow down and do his hygiene properly. After all, one thing out of place could spell disaster for them all. While that was possibly an overstatement, who could really know in this world.

Once that was done, next came the fitting of the armor. Or in this case, standing still as each piece was fitted on him.

"Why can't armor be stretchy?"  
The boy didn't answer, choosing instead to stay silent. All that was left was to grab his sword and wake the girl up. The sword was a simple matter, having been sitting on a table the whole time. He carefully fitted the weapon into its scabbard, making his way to the door.

"Ready to go?" the boy whispered and watched his partner run over, the two making their way into the hallway.

This hallway in particular didn't have anything going for it, which possibly the best part about it. There was no gimmick, weird architecture, or an out of place color palette. It was just a boring hallway. Though, that left little to talk about for the duo as they took a right, followed by a left.

It was here they came upon the girl's room.

Unlike the boy's room, hers was an absolute mess. Everything was all scattered about, with even the resident itself in the far corner.

"Wakey wakey." the boy whispered and watched as the girl perked up. "Ready to do this?"

"Of course, master!" the girl answered and scrambled to her feet, fitting a ramshackle cloak over her body. "I'm ready for this."

"Good to hear." the woman added and watched as the two exited the room. "After all, we don't want to piss Miss Enoshima off."

She quickly made her exit, watching as the boy and girl engaged in some small talk. Of what exactly, the woman wasn't quite sure. Not that it really mattered in her mind. For now, she need to just focus on making sure everything went right today, If nothing else, things to go smoothly.

Yet, a little voice in the back of her head told her otherwise. In a way, she hoped to be proved wrong. For nothing else just have things actually go smoothly.

Outside, the village had been decorated with a variety of adornments to celebrate the great occasion. Long lines of ribbon connected the various roofs upon the houses. Banners were strung all about, displaying a woman with a strawberry blonde ponytail in her late thirties. She had the sort of face that made you want to just hate her. Not that it was that hard to do already, considering her favorite activities included torturing puppies and treating her daughter as shit. Truly a wonderful hope's peak graduate that the school would be appreciative of. For now though, she and her child had not yet arrived.

"Do we really have to meet her?" the girl answered, her hands holding onto the edges of her tattered dress. She probably wanted to go for her knives, but knew it probably wasn't the best time to do it.

That probably the hardest part about all of this for the girl. If nothing else, having to hold back should a fight occur was the next hardest thing on the list. After all, no one wanted to pick up a pile of blood and guts.

"It'll be alright." the boy whispered and put a hand on her back. "We can do this."

"Right." the girl answered as the trio made their through the village, making sure things were in their proper places. Of course, that still left some time for themselves. But what exactly could they do?

Going for a swim was out of the question, with the nearest place to do such a thing being outside the walled city. Or perhaps a game of catch was in order, though that ran the risk of the girl tripping and somehow freaking the whole village out. Sparring could work, even if it brought the same issues the previous activity did.

But before they could make a decision, the whirring of a helicopter filled the air.

"Crap." the woman whispered as her casual walk turned into a full-on run only to suddenly stop.

"Why hello there!" a voice called out and a young girl ran up. She was currently dressed in a makeshift cloak, possibly stitched by her. A BlackGatomon was held tightly to her body, going quite well with her winged undead companion. "I'm Chouko Enoshima. And these are my partners Victoria and Mikan.

"Hello?" the boy whispered and turned his attention to Chouko. "I'm…"

Everything went black as the memory ended.

 **Memory Dagger: 'Byakuya's Memory' acquired!**

Reality quickly returned to the heir, who found Syo and Lilithmon standing over him.

"Ugh…" Byakuya whispered and pulled himself up. "How long have I been out?"

"A couple of hours." Lilithmon responded as she took a deep breath. "Strangely, no one has even bothered us."

The heir only sighed, turning his attention to the hallway ahead.

"Ding Dong Ding Dong! The class trial has now concluded." a voice announced, possibly Despair's. "And it seems that culprit has won!"

"Fuck." Lilithmon whispered and slammed her fist into the wall. "I guess someone got to leave."

Kyoko Kirigiri took a deep breath.

Even as she stood outside the entrance of Despair High, she knew it was for the better. Didn't make what she had to do any less horrific or right.

"Why hello there." a voice called out and the 'detective' did a double take.

"You shouldn't even exist!" Kyoko shouted, only for her 'opponent' to laugh.

"Never say never."

Endgame: 'Digital Despair EX' achieved.

Endgame 9/10 reached.


End file.
